Cities, Water and Climate Change (specialisation)

Entry requirements

A completed Bachelor's degree from a spatially-oriented discipline

In order to get admission to this Master's you will need a completed Bachelor’s degree from a spatially-oriented discipline, such as spatial planning, human geography or environment studies.

A proficiency in English

1. In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

A background in research methodology

Because of the academic nature of this programme, we require all our students to have basic training in research processes, e.g. research design and data analysis.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Masters specialisation in Cities, Water and Climate Change focuses on the relationship between city planning and development, climate mitigation and adaptation. Cities, because of high levels of energy consumption and mobility, are the main contributors to climate change. At the same time, cities, because of their population density, are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This Master's specialisation prepares students for working on the nexus between urban planning, water and environmental management.

Students will study case studies from the Netherlands (Delta programme, Rotterdam, and Nijmegen) as well as international cases (New Orleans, Miami, New York, Jakarta, Hamburg). Students will learn more about both strategies to enhance cities’ adaptive capacity, and cities’ resiliency to shocks, such as floods.

What will you learn?

• Learn about developing strategies for climate proofing and risk management
• Gain an understanding of different aspects from the fields of city planning, development, climate mitigation and adaptation
• Get valuable experience designing, conducting and presenting your own research projects

Career prospects

Graduates from this programme can find work in a variety of positions in different companies and organisations:

• Policy maker
• Consultant
• Project manager
• Developer
• Planner

Find out more about why you should study the Master’s programme in Spatial Planning at Radboud University.

To apply for this course, please contact us by e-mail.

Learn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.